The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

Leaning into the lush possibilities of dark academia, The City of Stardust is full of cutthroat scholars, a dark and dangerous education and a secret society of magicians. It’s perfect for fans of The Atlas Six or R.F. Kuang’s Babel.

A #1 International Bestseller •  An Amazon Best Book of February 2024•  An IndieNext Pick 

"A dark dream of a novel...that feels both timeless and original. Enjoy—and also beware. This fairy tale is deadly." —Laini Taylor, New York Times bestselling author

Slip into a lush world of magic, stardust, and monsters in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy from debut author Georgia Summers.

For centuries, the Everlys have seen their best and brightest disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break the curse first.

Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope's quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.

With her time running out, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

Praise for The City of Stardust: 

"A story as darkly wondrous as midnight. Summers brilliantly takes our yearning to open doors to magical new worlds, and twists it into a seductively vicious dream of darkness, blood, and winged horrors. Enthralling to the last page." —Shelley Parker-Chan

"Summers' debut is a dark, gorgeous tale of curses, gods and monsters, with the love and loyalty of family at its heart." —Sangu Mandanna